Dedication Ceremony

The Toni Morrison Society, The Drinking Gourd Project, Save Our Heritage and The Walden Woods Project cordially invite you to attend a Bench by the Road Project Dedication Ceremony.

A bench will be placed on Thoreau's Path at Brister's Hill in honor of the life of Brister Freeman (d. 1822), a freed slave who fought in the American Revolution. He is remembered in Thoreau's Walden:

Down the road, on the right hand,on Brister's Hill, lived Brister Freeman...there where grow still the apple treeswhich Brister planted and rended.

"It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man," Thoreau wrote. That connection is now made manifest on Thoreau's Path on Brister's Hill. Where Brister Freeman once lived and where Thoreau once walked, apple trees grow again.

A man, a slave, a freed man.An orchard, a land denuded, a land reclaimed.

Brister Freeman's name is now indelibly etched on this bench. Such an epitaph may tell us only indirectly that he ever lived but it will ensure that he will never be forgotten.

RSVP by Friday, May 17th

Please plan on arriving by 2:45 and park at the Walden Pond State Reservation parking lot. Complimentary shuttle vans will continually operate between Lot A (the lot closest to Route 2) and Brister's Hill.

This is an outdoor ceremony that will take place rain or shine. We encourage you to wear comfortable shoes as we will be standing on sandy soil.